The need for more energy efficient buildings continues to increase. Some methods address this problem by focusing on optimization of heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) units that use a vapor compression cycle to control temperature and/or humidity in a building.
For example, U.S. 2011/0209486 describes an optimization of energy consumption of a single HVAC unit using an extremum seeking control. However, that method does not necessarily lead to the optimization of the operation of multiple HVAC units installed in various parts of the buildings.
The method described in U.S. 2007/0005191 reduces energy consumption by automatically selecting setpoints for operation of multiple HVAC units in different rooms of the building, such that the energy consumption of the entire HVAC system is optimized. However, that method prevents occupants of the building from selecting the setpoints.